1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to decoys and more specifically to full-body and shell goose decoys which have feet and legs in different positions so as to create the imagery of a flock of actively feeding live-birds.
2. Description of Prior Art
Decoys imitate animals and have been used for quite some time in hunting to lure game animals into shooting range. Decoys are currently used to hunt a variety of different animals, including deer, antelope, turkeys, crows, and waterfowl.
Ducks and geese are the most popular types of waterfowl birds hunted for sport. In the 1800""s and up until the early twentieth century in what is now referred to as the market days, wild ducks and geese were commercially harvested. During this time period hunters used live-birds to decoy the waterfowl into shooting range. This practice was stopped by federal legislation in the early 1900""s. Such illegalization has since led to the paramount importance of decoys to the success of the modern day waterfowl hunter.
Waterfowl decoys come in a variety of different types and styles depending on their intended use. For example, there are duck and goose decoys specifically designed for use on water, and others designed for use on land and ice. Most ducks and geese travel each day between bodies of water and agricultural fields or feeding grounds. The birds rest on the water and feed in the fields. As a strategy taking advantage of this daily flight pattern, hunters set out floating decoys on the water and attempt to lure the birds into shotgun range when the birds return from feeding in the fields. Accordingly, as another strategy taking advantage of this daily flight pattern, hunters set out decoys in the fields and attempt to lure hungry birds into shotgun range while attempting to imitate a flock of feeding live-birds with a group of decoys or a decoy spread.
Probably the most popular method of hunting geese is decoying in agricultural fields. Common types of field decoys for goose hunting include, shells, full-bodies, silhouettes, rags and kites. Silhouettes are flat two dimensional cutouts from sheet material of about an eighth of an inch thick, and are staked above the ground in a vertical position so as to be clearly seen from a side view by approaching birds. A second type of two dimensional cutout decoy is laid flat on the ground so as to be clearly seen from above by circling birds. Shells, full-bodies, rags and kites are generally a more realistic representation of live-birds than the two dimensional decoy types since they utilize all three dimensions to decoy, and therefore are seen from all angles by approaching and circling geese.
Full-body and shell decoys are generally the most popular types of decoys for goose hunting on land and ice since they appear the most realistic from all angles. Both full-body and shell decoys have a decoy body and a head-and-neck section or piece. The head-and-neck section may be removably attachable or integral with the decoy body. Full-body goose decoys have a fully enclosed spherical body and generally have attachable leg-and-foot pieces. The leg-and-foot pieces give the decoys the added realism of legs and feet, which better imitates standing, feeding birds. Shell decoys have semi-spherical bodies which have an open underside so as to be stackable upon one another during transport. Shell decoys are most commonly laid flat on the ground and best imitate resting birds or birds that are feeding while laying down. Shell decoys however, may also be positioned above the ground so as to provide the enhanced realism of standing birds. Standing shell decoys are most generally positioned above the ground with stakes, but may also use attachable leg-and-foot pieces.
Most standing decoys require the use of stakes at all times to help maintain them in a standing position. Other standing decoys rely solely upon the base and/or leg-and-foot piece for balance, and therefore do not require the use of stakes, except for in windy conditions. Most types of shell decoy and full-body decoy leg-and-foot pieces have a plastic base that is directly molded to the feet which helps balance the decoy. The feet of other standing shell and full-body decoys"" leg-and-foot pieces contact the ground directly to aid in maintaining the decoy in a standing position. Some decoys whose feet contact the ground have oversized feet and utilize only the feet to maintain the decoys standing, except for in windy conditions where stakes are required. Other decoys whose feet contact the ground use stakes at all times in addition to their feet, to maintain the decoys in a standing position.
Maintaining full-body and standing shell decoys in a realistic standing position is very important to having a realistic decoy spread. Attempts in the prior art have been made to increase the effectiveness and ease of maintaining shell and full-body decoys in a realistic standing position, but these attempts have their own problems as well. Some of such problems revolve around decreased realism of the decoys individually. For example, disproportionate body parts such as oversized feet or a large base attached to the feet, and stakes protruding from the decoy bodies look unnatural and can scare away wary geese. Also, when prior art standing decoys are positioned on uneven ground, as is very common in hunting conditions, the decoys are commonly tilted at unnatural angles since the feet or bases get tilted by the bumps and depressions in the ground. This will especially alarm approaching geese. Other problems associated with maintaining prior art standing decoys in a realistic standing position include inconveniences and time involvement the hunter must put up with when installing stakes, and when attempting to secure the decoys in a standing position to ice or frozen ground, especially when in windy conditions.
The more a decoy spread imitates a flock of live-birds the more effective it will be in providing hunting success. The realism of a decoy spread is dependent on not only how realistic each individual decoy is but on how the decoys as a group duplicate the active flock effect of the live-birds they are imitating.
Attempts in the prior art have been made to increase the realism and effectiveness of field decoy spreads for waterfowl hunting, but these attempts have their own problems as well. Since all prior art waterfowl field decoy spreads have decoys with identical shaped decoy bodies where the legs and feet attached to such decoy bodies are all substantially exactly identical to each other, the ability of prior art decoy spreads to effectively and easily create the imagery of a flock of actively feeding live-birds is limited. For example, all prior art decoy spreads of standing full-body and standing shell goose decoys with legs and feet, exhibit xe2x80x9ctin-soldier syndromexe2x80x9d wherein the legs and feet of each such decoy are straight, parallel and identical to each other. A decoy spread of such decoys gives the appearance of a battalion at attention. Nothing could be more uncharacteristic of a flock of feeding geese that is actively walking around searching for and consuming food.
It is apparent that there are needed improvements in the realism of decoys.
It is apparent that there is a need for a decoy that is capable of being easily secured to hard surfaces such as to frozen ground and ice.
It is apparent that there is a need for a self-standing decoy that is capable of being secured in a standing position upon uneven surfaces so that the decoy is not tilted at an unnatural angle.
It is apparent that there is a need for a decoy that does not portray any disproportionate or unrealistic shapes when secured in a standing position.
It is further apparent that there is a need for decoys which have the same decoy body but which have legs and feet that are not identical to the legs and feet of the other decoys having the same decoy bodies, so as to create decoy spreads that more realistically imitate the active flock effect or imagery of feeding birds, that are walking around looking for and consuming food.
It is yet further apparent that there is a need for three-dimensional standing goose decoys which have legs and feet that are not identical to each other, so as to create decoy spreads that more realistically imitate the active flock effect or imagery of feeding birds, that are walking around looking for and consuming food.
It is one object of the present invention to provide more realistic decoys.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a decoy that is capable of being easily secured to hard surfaces such as frozen ground and ice.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a self-standing decoy that is capable of being secured in a standing position upon uneven surfaces so that the decoy is not tilted at an unnatural angle.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a decoy that does not portray any disproportionate or unrealistic shapes when secured in a standing position, such as oversized feet or a noticeable standing base.
It is another objective of the present invention to provide decoys which have the same decoy body but that which each have different shaped legs and feet, such that the legs and feet of each decoy are in different positions than the legs and feet of each of the other decoys which have the same decoy bodies, so as to create decoy spreads that more realistically imitate the active flock effect or imagery of feeding birds, that are walking around looking for and consuming food.
It is further another objective of the present invention to provide three-dimensional full-body goose decoys which each have different shaped legs and feet, such that the legs and feet of each decoy are in different positions than the legs and feet of each of the other decoys, so as to create decoy spreads that more realistically imitate the active flock effect or imagery of feeding birds, that are walking around looking for and consuming food.
It is yet further another objective of the present invention to provide three-dimensional standing shell goose decoys which each have different shaped legs and feet, such that the legs and feet of each decoy are in different positions than the legs and feet of each of the other decoys, so as to create decoy spreads that more realistically imitate the active flock effect or imagery of feeding birds, that are walking around looking for and consuming food.
The foregoing objects and advantages and other objects and advantages of the present invention are accomplished according to one preferred embodiment of this invention with a plurality of the same shaped full-body goose decoy bodies, a plurality of different shaped removably attachable head-and-neck pieces, and a plurality of different shaped removably attachable foot-and-leg assemblies. The different shaped foot-and-leg assemblies each have a pair of legs and corresponding feet, and differ in shape from one another by having a different spatial arrangement of legs and feet, wherein the legs and feet of each foot-and-leg assembly are in different positions than the legs and feet of each of the other foot-and-leg assemblies. The different positions that the legs and feet are in correspond to the various exact foot and leg positions live geese exhibit while walking around and feeding. All of the different shaped foot-and-leg assemblies are removably attachable to all of the decoy bodies. A pair of wings extending from the top of each foot-and-leg assembly mate in corresponding slots formed in the bottom of each decoy body in such a manner that each foot-and-leg assembly is securely held attached to a corresponding decoy body by frictional engagement. A wire base is integrally molded to the feet of each foot-and-leg assembly and serves to render each decoy self-standing without the aid of staking, except for in extreme windy conditions. The wire base is capable of straddling bumps or uneven spots in the ground so as to retain the decoy in a natural position at all time regardless of the contours of the terrain. The wire base is also capable of being easily and quickly hid from sight by moving it back and forth in the dirt, snow or low cut vegetation until it is completely covered. The wire base has two loops swaged in it that allow the decoy to be staked to the ground. The loops in the wire base are contoured such that they fit the exact thread pitch and diameter of a ice screw or bolt, so that the decoy can be firmly secured to ice or frozen ground such that the bolt threads mate with the contours of each wire loop and firmly hold the decoy secured even when the bolt is not fastened completely snug to the ground or ice.
Another preferred embodiment according to this invention differs from the above described preferred embodiment in that there are two different shaped full-body goose decoy body styles. The two different shaped full-body goose decoy body styles differ in shape from each other in the location of where the head-and-neck pieces attach. Also, all of the different shaped foot-and-leg assemblies are removably attachable to both of the two different shaped decoy body styles.
Another preferred embodiment according to this invention differs from the above described preferred embodiments in that there are more than two different shaped full-body decoy body styles. According to one such preferred embodiment each decoy body has thighs molded to it on each side of the decoy body. Except for the location where the head-and-neck pieces attach, the decoy bodies differ in shape by the locations of where the thighs are molded onto the bodies. The thighs are molded onto the decoy bodies in such locations so as to line-up or be in position with the legs of the different foot-and-leg assemblies when corresponding foot-and-leg assemblies are attached to corresponding decoy bodies.
Other preferred embodiments of this invention differ from the above described preferred embodiments in that they have shell decoy bodies to which foot-and-leg assemblies are removably attachable. According to one such shell decoy body preferred embodiment the same foot-and-leg assemblies that attach to a full-body decoy body also attach to the shell decoy bodies. According to one such preferred embodiment the full-body foot-and-leg assemblies are attached to the shell decoy bodies by a separate coupler piece that is first attached to a foot-and-leg assembly and then the coupler and foot-and-leg assembly is attached to the shell decoy body. Some shell decoy body preferred embodiments according to this invention have different shaped shell decoy bodies, wherein the shell decoy bodies differ in shape from each other by the location of where the head-and-neck pieces attach.
According to the above described preferred embodiments of this invention, when each different shaped foot-and-leg assembly is attached to a corresponding decoy body and placed upon the ground, the decoy body is positioned in a different position relative to the ground. The exact different positions the decoy body is positioned in when having each different foot-and-leg assembly attached corresponds to the exact position a live goose""s body would be in relative to the ground when its legs and feet are in the position of the legs and feet of the particular attached foot-and-leg assembly. The number of different shaped foot-and-leg assemblies is enough to reproduce all of the common body positions and corresponding feet and leg positions exhibited by geese when walking around and feeding etc. So, by simply attaching the different shaped head-and-neck pieces and different shaped foot-and-leg assemblies to corresponding decoy bodies, decoy spreads having decoys with legs, feet and bodies in different natural positions are created. Such decoy spreads more realistically create the imagery of an actively feeding flock of geese walking around searching for and consuming food. Such decoy spreads are also more effective and therefore provide increased hunting success.
Yet other preferred embodiments according to this invention differ from the above described preferred embodiments in that the legs and feet are molded to or are integral with the decoy bodies. Such preferred embodiments comprise a plurality of the same shaped decoy bodies where each decoy body has a different shaped pair of legs and corresponding feet molded thereto or integral therewith. The decoy bodies according to such preferred embodiments include silhouette and full-body decoy bodies, and may have removably attachable or integral head-and-neck sections. The decoys according to such preferred embodiments are also capable of producing all of the common body positions and corresponding feet and leg positions exhibited by geese when walking around and feeding, such that decoy spreads are produced which create the imagery of an actively feeding flock of geese walking around searching for and consuming food as according to this invention.
The preferred embodiments of this invention provide more realistic decoys and decoy spreads. The decoys according this invention are capable of straddling bumps and uneven terrain so as to prevent the decoys from being tilted at unnatural angles. The decoys according to this invention do not have any disproportionate body parts or unnatural bases or shapes that could scare approaching geese. The decoys according to this invention are capable of having their standing bases easily and quickly hid from sight, by covering the wire base in dirt, snow or vegetation. The decoys according to this invention are self-standing and are capable of being easily staked down in windy conditions and to frozen ground or ice. The decoys according to this invention produce decoys and decoy spreads that are a more realistic imitation of live-birds than prior art decoys.
As has been shown in the above discussion, the decoys according to this invention overcome deficiencies inherent in prior art decoys.
With the above objects and advantages in view, other objects and advantages of the invention will more readily appear as the nature of the invention is better understood, the invention is comprised in the novel construction and assembly of parts herein more fully described, illustrated and claimed.